Students Showcase Toy Designs

Forget Tickle Me Elmo. University of Guelph students will be unveiling their latest toy products aimed at promoting child development at "The Next Generation of Toys" competition March 26.

Forty-eight student toy companies will showcase their products to the University community and general public from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. in Peter Clark Hall.

The annual competition is part of family relations professor Susan Chuang's second-year infant development course.

"Toys are extremely important when it comes to stimulating child development, and a tremendous amount of research goes into designing toys," said Chuang. "This competition is a way for students to put what they've learned into practice. The toys they have developed are based on research and developmental theories that they've been taught in class."

In addition to designing the toys, students must come up with company names, logos and mission statements.

As part of this year's competition, the toys will be judged by a panel of professors, and the top three student toy companies will be linked with business students who will help them develop a way to market their designs, said Chuang.

"The toys these students create are impressive, and we really wanted to focus this year on finding ways to market them and possibly get them on store shelves."